AIRASIA yesterday introduced a year-long inter-regional initiative to help Japan get back on its feet following the disasters that hit the country.

The To Japan with Love campaign includes a fundraising drive across the airline’s entire network, and sponsored flights for a group of participants of the ASEAN Youth Caravan of Goodwill programme to Northeast Japan in June.

“As a neighbour of Japan, it is only right that we, the ASEAN community, help. And the magnitude of the disasters dictates that we work together to help Japan recover,” said AirAsia founder and CEO, Tony Fernandes.

In a bid to to raise US$1.0 million for the campaign, donation boxes and 5,000 limited-edition wristbands will be made available on all AirAsia, AirAsia X, AirAsia Indonesia and AirAsia Thailand flights.

The carrier will also hold a special charity evening of Magical Musicals, a West End Production at Sunway Lagoon in mid-June, while AirAsia X will offer tour packages, via AirAsiaGo, incorporating the Mount Fuji segment of the AirAsia-sponsored Altitude X climbing expedition with Singaporean adventurer Khoo Swee Chiow.

All proceeds collected from the campaign, wristband sales, tickets and tour packages will be channelled to Japan Platform, a consortium of 32 Japanese NGOs at the forefront of recovery efforts in Northeast Japan.

In conjunction with the campaign, AirAsia X is offering promotional all-in fares to Tokyo from as low as RM199 (US$67) one-way for economy seats, and from RM1,569 one-way for premium seats. The promotional fares are available for booking from May 10 to 22, for travel from June 1, 2011 to February 29, 2012.